Improved wringer and washing-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

EDVIN CHESTERMAN, OF ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED WRINGER AND WASHING-MACHINE` I Specification forniing part ofLetters Patent No. 58,215, dated September 25, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN CHESTERMAN, of Roxbury, Norfolk county, Sta-teof Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful lmprovement in Machinesfor l/Vashing and VVringing Clothes; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art to make and use the same,

reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part ot' thisspecification, in whichn Figure l is a front elevation of a washing andwringing machine made accordin g to my invention, a portion of the framehaving been takeu'away to show one of the springs above the journals ofthe upper roller. Fig. 2 is an end view. Fig. 3 is a cross-section, onthe line m of Fig. 1, of the rollers of the machine. Fig. 4 is adetailed view of the cam which operates the rollers when the machine isused for washing clothes.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to produce a machine for washing andwringing clothes which shall be compact in form, simple in operation,and easily operated. The invention embraces several particulars, one ofwhich relates to the form of the cam, by which motion is communicated tothe working or pressing rollers of the machine. Another relates to themanner of working the shafts on which the elastic covering of therollers is mounted. Another relates to the manner of setting the crankso that it can be turned without coming in contact with the rim or sidesof the tub or vessel to which the machine is attached. Another relatesto the clamps by which the machine is fastened to the sides of a tub.Another relates to the manner of producing pressure upon the ends of theshaft of the upper roller.

The letter'A designates the frame of the apparatus or machine, the endor upright parts of the frame being slotted to receive the journals ofthe rollers, thejournals of the lower one resting in the botttom of theslot, and those of the upper one being free to move up and down in theslots, only rest-rained by a spring-bar, G, whose ends enter the slotsand rest there on elastic cushions, or springs H H, of rubber, th at arefastened to half-boxes L L, which slide in the slots and rest on thejournals of said upper roller. The springbar G extends the whole lengthof the frame, and is placed beneath the upper rail, F, thereof, atemper-screw, which goes through the rail7 serving to force the bardownward when the upper roller is to be brought against the lower onewith increased pressure.

The top rail, F, is connected to the upright ends of the frame by meansof a dovetailed joint, as shown in Fig. 2, in orde-rte prevent the railfrom becoming split from the effects of the strain put on this part ofthe machine when' in operation.

The springs H, which in this example are made of rubber, may be of metalif preferred.

The bottom of the frame is provided with two sets of round fingers, KK', one at each end of the frame, which tit over the edge or rim of atub, the fingers K being xed and the fingers K being capable of rotationin sockets J J, which are formed on the endof iron plates that arepermanently fastenedyto theframe, that part of each finger K' which isbetween the sockets being provided with a shoulder which prevents itfrom having moi tion endwise. The fm gers K are provided withset-screws, which serve to clamp the machine fast to a tub.

The shafts in those parts which are covered with the elastic material Bare made with four radial arms at right angles to each other, form ing aspider 7 or skeleton, B', whose circumference is the elastic covering B.The angular spaces between the arms of the spider are filled withangular blocks B2, which are thicker radially than the angular spaces inwhich they are placed, thereby forming a depression between adjacentblocks along` the line of each of the arms ot the spider lengthwise ofthe shaft, whichV depressions will be occupied by the elastic coverings,so as to lock it and prevent it from turning on the shaft. The ends ofeach shaft have caps C, which are permanently fastened thereon, andserve to hold the blocks in place, and also the elastic covering B.

One end of each roller-shaft has a wheel, D, whose outer face isfurnished with teeth near its periphery, which vare en ga-ged by thesaid worin E, the flanges of the worm being wide enough to engage theteeth of both wormwheelsI D, even when the distance between said wheelsis somewhat increased by the passage of clothes through them. The worm Egives a continuous rotary motion to the roller-shafts, and it istherefore to be employed when the machine is used as a clothes-wringenThe shaft of the worm is properly supported in brackets that projectfrom the frame A, and on one end of said shaft is placed the crank I,the arm of which is extended at an angle of about forty-tive degreeswith said shaft, instead of being at a right angle, as usual. rlheobject of so arranging the crank is to enable the operator to turn itwithout hitting the rim or edge of the tub to which the machine isclamped, whether the tub be square or round, and whether the machine beplaced on its front or its end.

The elastic coverings B here shown are made of rubber, and they may becured on the shafts, or they may, if preferred, be put on after they arecured.

When the machine is used for washing dirt out of clothes the rollersshould have an alternat-ing motion-or, in other words, a reciprocatingrotary motion-and I accomplish this result by substituting for the wormE a double cam, E', formed on the circumference of a shaft whichis'supported in the bearings provided for the worm, and is operated bythe same crank. Fig. 4 shows one division of the cams, the other beinglike it in form, and being placed on the opposite side of the shaft, soth at each will produce the like motions in the rollers.

The operation of the cams is as follows: The shaft on which they areplaced being turned continuously, the roller whose teeth are iirstengaged by the cam will be rotated a short distance in one direction,and then an equal distance in the opposite direction, and then an equaldistance inthe Iirst direction, when the toothslips off the flange ofthe cam, and the next tooth engages it and goes over the same course.The same cam also engages one of the teeth of the other roller later inits course, and produces the same motions in that roller, but not at thesame instant of time, the course of the cam causing one roller to berotated in nating or reciprocating movements of the elas-` tic rollerswill be rapidly repeated by turning the crank I.

It will be observed that, by means of the devices above described formoving the elastic rollers, the said rollers are moved simultane-1^ously without being geared to each other, and that the upper one isallowed to rise and fall without interfering with its operation.

The upper roller is allowed to play freely in the slot which receivesits journals whenever a greater mass or thickness of clothes is placedat one end than at the other, the spring-bar G, which holds it down,being itself acted on by a single screw in the middle of its length, sothat its ends are free to move vertically about the end of the screwwithout displacing it.

The set-screws in the clampingingers K can be always made to bear atright angles against the sides of the tub or tank to which the machineis attached, because the said fingers are free to turn in their sockets.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Thecombination and arrangement of the slotted frame A, dovetail-rail F,spring-bar Gr,

springs H, fingers K K', sockets J, capped wringers B, toothed wheel D,and worm E, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. Making the shafts of the rollers of a skeleton or spider, the anglesbetween whose radial arms are filled in with blocks of larger size thanthe spaces, substantially as above described.

3. The cams E', made substantially as described, for giving areciprocating rotary motion to the elastic rollers, so as to producefriction on the clothes placed between them, substantially as set forth.

EDW'IN CHESTERMAN.

Witnesses:

H. H. MCBURNEY, JAMES B. FoRsYTH.

